As Q2 2025 figures continue to roll in, the stark contrast between companies operating in the UK and Germany are becoming increasingly apparent.
While there are undoubtedly changes on the horizon for the German market, its biggest players are continuing to ride the wave of demand as the medical market continues one of the quickest and most significant periods of growth seen in the industry’s short history.
Despite its established position as the second-largest medical cannabis market in Europe, the experience of many UK companies, particularly those listed publicly, is far less forgiving.
UK medical cannabis cultivator Celadon Pharmaceuticals has voted to delist its shares from public trading, following months of financial turmoil and funding woes.
In a statement issued on 1 July, the company announced plans to cancel the admission of its ordinary shares trading on AIM effective 8 August, pending shareholder approval at a general meeting on 28 July.
At the time, the company said: “The Chief Executive Officer of the Company believes the proposed cancellation… to be in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders.”
In a market statement on August 08, Celadon confirmed that shareholders had voted to approve this action, which will now see the company reregister as a private entity.
In a separate statement, Celadon also confirmed that Chair Alexander Anton has resigned from his position effective immediately, leaving just CEO James Short on the board. This comes after more than 40% of shareholders voted against his re-election at its recent AGM.
Celadon’s delisting marks the latest in a string of British cannabis and biotech firms to exit in recent months, marking an increasing trend towards private investment.
Asked about this emerging trend, and whether we could see the few remaining European-listed cannabis companies follow suit, Anthony Coniglio, co-founder and CEO of NewLake Capital Partners, and one of the industry’s leading voices on cannabis capital markets and regulatory strategy, told Business of Cannabis that many companies simply had no choice.
“They’d love to save the money and go private, but their options are very limited. Yes, they could de-list, but with a large shareholder base they’d still need much of the same apparatus to communicate with those investors.
“This isn’t a ‘go private’ scenario where a private equity firm buys the company, takes it off the market, and you can dismantle your investor relations team because you only have a handful of investors. That’s not the case here — there’s simply no capital available to take these companies private.
“With delisting, you also have to navigate approval requirements, and you risk angering shareholders who are suddenly left with no liquidity — even if the stock’s performance hasn’t been great.”
“Management teams are going to hesitate before going private if there’s any chance of a catalyst that could send their stock price soaring.
“One unknown is how MSOs fit into this. Many own stakes in these companies, but I’m not sure if they could legally own private entities. You’d have to dig into the rules — and even then, how would they unwind their positions?”
SEED Innovations has become the latest cannabis company to announce plans to shift its focus away from the industry towards the emerging artificial intelligence sector.
In a circular published on July 18, the AIM-listed investment firm, which has until now largely focused its strategy on cannabis and biotech ventures, unveiled its plans for a major strategic pivot.
The announcement came alongside proposals for a Tender Offer to buy back up to 45% of its issued share capital, providing an off-market exit at a premium to recent share prices.
Both will be put to a vote at SEED’s upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) on August 13, 2025.
This shift follows a challenging 2024 and increased involvement from former chairman Jim Mellon, who has now grown his stake in the company to over 20%.
Mellon is set to rejoin the board alongside Denham Eke, replacing outgoing CEO Ed McDermott and executive Alfredo Pascual, both of whom will support the transition over the coming months.
The new direction is a marked change from the company’s position in January, when McDermott described 2024 as ‘difficult,’ but reiterated SEED’s ‘industry-agnostic trading strategy’ and pointed to ‘promising’ investment opportunities across various sectors.
At the time, he highlighted a capital gap facing early-stage ventures but remained optimistic about backing scalable companies capable of delivering meaningful exits within 24 months.
As the German medical cannabis market reels from threats of a clampdown on telehealth prescribing, a major driver of growth in the flourishing market, multi-brand operator Synbiotic SE has assured investors of its solid market position.
In a market update from July 29, CEO Daniel Kruse said the group’s strategy offers investors exposure to ‘two billion-euro growth’ markets, including both medical cannabis and industrial hemp.
Directly addressing the government’s plans to amend the Medical Cannabis Act (MedCanG), Synbiotic says that while it ‘rejects some of the proposed amendments to the draft as incorrect, excessive and unnecessary’, it sees a significant opportunity in moderate adjustment of the current legal situation.
“Our business model is designed in such a way that, in parallel with our distribution strategy incorporating telemedicine aspects, there is a strong focus on personal care and advice from local pharmacies. This means that even if the current draft law is implemented, the potential restrictions will be significantly less severe for our operational business than for many of our competitors,” says Tony Schröter, co-managing director of Weeco Pharma, a subsidiary of Synbiotic.
The company reiterates that the draft law confirms the Group’s strategic direction of physical distribution via pharmacies ‘which will continue to be authorised to dispense prescription drugs even after a possible change in the law, is and will remain an integral part of the business model’.
As such, Stenocare is now projecting an ambitious threefold increase in revenue by 2027, with group turnover forecast to hit €48 million by 2027, up from €16 million in 2024, while aiming for positive EBITDA by mid-2026, with margins exceeding 10% by 2028.
In hemp, Synbiotic sees also ‘enormous potential’ from regulatory tailwinds, particularly expected German reforms and EU approval of CBD as a novel food. Demand for hemp food and feed is already up 300–400% year-on-year, the company said.
Elsewhere in Germany, Cantourage Group SE has delivered another record quarter, with Q2 2025 revenue reaching €27.9 million, bringing total revenue for the first half of the year to €54 million, already exceeding the company’s full-year 2024 revenue of €51.4 million.
According to a brief, unaudited financial update from July 10, the second quarter marked a 130% year-on-year increase compared to Q2 2024, when revenue stood at €12 million.
The first quarter of 2025 had already set a high bar. In April, Cantourage reported Q1 revenue of €25.6 million, with March sales exceeding €10.7 million, its first month above the €10 million threshold, well ahead of its previous record of €8.5 million in December 2024.
A May update also revealed that by the end of April, cumulative revenue had topped €36 million, while reporting a preliminary EBITDA margin of 11–13% in Q1 2025, marking its best performance to date.
As one of Germany’s largest importers and distributors of medical cannabis, Cantourage is riding the wave of the new torrent of cannabis coming into Germany.
Last week, Business of Cannabis reported that the blistering growth of Germany’s medical cannabis sector showed no signs of abating through the second quarter of 2025, with imports rising another 15% to hit new records.
New figures from the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM), published this week, showed that the total quantity of medical cannabis flower imported into Germany through April, May and June hit 43.3 tonnes, up from 37.5 in Q1.
However, this exponential growth could soon be tamed, as the German government prepares to impose controversial restrictions on telehealth prescriptions, likely leading to dramatic oversupply in an already saturated market.
The post A Tale of Two Markets: German Cannabis Companies Chase Records as UK Operators Seek Exits appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
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While there are undoubtedly changes on the horizon for the German market, its biggest players are continuing to ride the wave of demand as the medical market continues one of the quickest and most significant periods of growth seen in the industry’s short history.
Despite its established position as the second-largest medical cannabis market in Europe, the experience of many UK companies, particularly those listed publicly, is far less forgiving.
Celadon Pharmaceuticals
UK medical cannabis cultivator Celadon Pharmaceuticals has voted to delist its shares from public trading, following months of financial turmoil and funding woes.
In a statement issued on 1 July, the company announced plans to cancel the admission of its ordinary shares trading on AIM effective 8 August, pending shareholder approval at a general meeting on 28 July.
At the time, the company said: “The Chief Executive Officer of the Company believes the proposed cancellation… to be in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders.”
In a market statement on August 08, Celadon confirmed that shareholders had voted to approve this action, which will now see the company reregister as a private entity.
In a separate statement, Celadon also confirmed that Chair Alexander Anton has resigned from his position effective immediately, leaving just CEO James Short on the board. This comes after more than 40% of shareholders voted against his re-election at its recent AGM.
Celadon’s delisting marks the latest in a string of British cannabis and biotech firms to exit in recent months, marking an increasing trend towards private investment.
Asked about this emerging trend, and whether we could see the few remaining European-listed cannabis companies follow suit, Anthony Coniglio, co-founder and CEO of NewLake Capital Partners, and one of the industry’s leading voices on cannabis capital markets and regulatory strategy, told Business of Cannabis that many companies simply had no choice.
“They’d love to save the money and go private, but their options are very limited. Yes, they could de-list, but with a large shareholder base they’d still need much of the same apparatus to communicate with those investors.
“This isn’t a ‘go private’ scenario where a private equity firm buys the company, takes it off the market, and you can dismantle your investor relations team because you only have a handful of investors. That’s not the case here — there’s simply no capital available to take these companies private.
“With delisting, you also have to navigate approval requirements, and you risk angering shareholders who are suddenly left with no liquidity — even if the stock’s performance hasn’t been great.”
“Management teams are going to hesitate before going private if there’s any chance of a catalyst that could send their stock price soaring.
“One unknown is how MSOs fit into this. Many own stakes in these companies, but I’m not sure if they could legally own private entities. You’d have to dig into the rules — and even then, how would they unwind their positions?”
SEED Innovations
SEED Innovations has become the latest cannabis company to announce plans to shift its focus away from the industry towards the emerging artificial intelligence sector.
In a circular published on July 18, the AIM-listed investment firm, which has until now largely focused its strategy on cannabis and biotech ventures, unveiled its plans for a major strategic pivot.
The announcement came alongside proposals for a Tender Offer to buy back up to 45% of its issued share capital, providing an off-market exit at a premium to recent share prices.
Both will be put to a vote at SEED’s upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) on August 13, 2025.
This shift follows a challenging 2024 and increased involvement from former chairman Jim Mellon, who has now grown his stake in the company to over 20%.
Mellon is set to rejoin the board alongside Denham Eke, replacing outgoing CEO Ed McDermott and executive Alfredo Pascual, both of whom will support the transition over the coming months.
The new direction is a marked change from the company’s position in January, when McDermott described 2024 as ‘difficult,’ but reiterated SEED’s ‘industry-agnostic trading strategy’ and pointed to ‘promising’ investment opportunities across various sectors.
At the time, he highlighted a capital gap facing early-stage ventures but remained optimistic about backing scalable companies capable of delivering meaningful exits within 24 months.
Synbiotic SE
As the German medical cannabis market reels from threats of a clampdown on telehealth prescribing, a major driver of growth in the flourishing market, multi-brand operator Synbiotic SE has assured investors of its solid market position.
In a market update from July 29, CEO Daniel Kruse said the group’s strategy offers investors exposure to ‘two billion-euro growth’ markets, including both medical cannabis and industrial hemp.
Directly addressing the government’s plans to amend the Medical Cannabis Act (MedCanG), Synbiotic says that while it ‘rejects some of the proposed amendments to the draft as incorrect, excessive and unnecessary’, it sees a significant opportunity in moderate adjustment of the current legal situation.
“Our business model is designed in such a way that, in parallel with our distribution strategy incorporating telemedicine aspects, there is a strong focus on personal care and advice from local pharmacies. This means that even if the current draft law is implemented, the potential restrictions will be significantly less severe for our operational business than for many of our competitors,” says Tony Schröter, co-managing director of Weeco Pharma, a subsidiary of Synbiotic.
The company reiterates that the draft law confirms the Group’s strategic direction of physical distribution via pharmacies ‘which will continue to be authorised to dispense prescription drugs even after a possible change in the law, is and will remain an integral part of the business model’.
As such, Stenocare is now projecting an ambitious threefold increase in revenue by 2027, with group turnover forecast to hit €48 million by 2027, up from €16 million in 2024, while aiming for positive EBITDA by mid-2026, with margins exceeding 10% by 2028.
In hemp, Synbiotic sees also ‘enormous potential’ from regulatory tailwinds, particularly expected German reforms and EU approval of CBD as a novel food. Demand for hemp food and feed is already up 300–400% year-on-year, the company said.
Cantourage GMBH
Elsewhere in Germany, Cantourage Group SE has delivered another record quarter, with Q2 2025 revenue reaching €27.9 million, bringing total revenue for the first half of the year to €54 million, already exceeding the company’s full-year 2024 revenue of €51.4 million.
According to a brief, unaudited financial update from July 10, the second quarter marked a 130% year-on-year increase compared to Q2 2024, when revenue stood at €12 million.
The first quarter of 2025 had already set a high bar. In April, Cantourage reported Q1 revenue of €25.6 million, with March sales exceeding €10.7 million, its first month above the €10 million threshold, well ahead of its previous record of €8.5 million in December 2024.
A May update also revealed that by the end of April, cumulative revenue had topped €36 million, while reporting a preliminary EBITDA margin of 11–13% in Q1 2025, marking its best performance to date.
As one of Germany’s largest importers and distributors of medical cannabis, Cantourage is riding the wave of the new torrent of cannabis coming into Germany.
Last week, Business of Cannabis reported that the blistering growth of Germany’s medical cannabis sector showed no signs of abating through the second quarter of 2025, with imports rising another 15% to hit new records.
New figures from the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM), published this week, showed that the total quantity of medical cannabis flower imported into Germany through April, May and June hit 43.3 tonnes, up from 37.5 in Q1.
However, this exponential growth could soon be tamed, as the German government prepares to impose controversial restrictions on telehealth prescriptions, likely leading to dramatic oversupply in an already saturated market.
The post A Tale of Two Markets: German Cannabis Companies Chase Records as UK Operators Seek Exits appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
Continue reading...
